Drill dispensing container



Nov. 13, 1962 R. E. RUSSELL DRILL DISPENSING CONTAINER Filed July 18, 1961 Unite rates te 3,063,551 DRILL DESPENSING CONTAINER Richard E. Russell, 162 Daiten Ave, Pittsfield, Mass. Filed July 18, 1961, Ser. No. 124,876 flahns. (Cl. 206-17) This invention relates to dispensing containers, and more particularly to a dispensing drill container for dispensing drills according to their size, as required.

A main object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved drill dispensing container which is relatively simple in construction, which is easy to manipulate, and which is relatively compact in size so that it can be easily carried in a tool box or other tool receptacle.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved indexing dispensing drill container which isinexpensive to manufacture, which is durable in construction, and which is provided with means for readily removing drills therefrom in the event that the drills become jammed or fail to drop out of the container by gravity.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and claims, and from the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical cross sectional view taken axially through an improved dispensing drill containerconstructed in accordance with the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view, partly broken away, of the drill dispensing container of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a bottom plan view of the drill dispensing container of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a horizontal cross sectional view taken substantially on the line 4 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is a top plan view of the bottom cover disc employed in the drill dispensing container of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary horizontal cross sectional view taken substantially on the line 66 of FIGURE 7 and showing a modified form of yieldable locking means which may be employed to lock a cover disc against rotation relative to the main body of the dispensing container in a modified form of the present invention.

FIGURE 7 is a vertical cross sectional view taken substantially on the line 77 of FIGURE 6.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGURES 1 to 5, 11 generall designates an improved drill holder constructed in accordance with the present invention. The drill holder 11 comprises a generally cylindrical main body comprising a cylindrical shell 12 preferably of transparent plastic material, or the like, secured on the peripheral edges of respective circular top and bottom disc elements 13 and 14 and engaged by the peripheral edges of a plurality of spaced intermediate circular disc members 15. Respective annular spacer blocks 16 are provided between the circular disc members, said blocks and circular disc members being rotatably mounted on a central supporting shaft 17. Respective top and bottom cover discs 18 and 19 are provided, the top disc 18 being disposed on the top surface of the upper disc member 13 and the bottom cover disc 19 being disposed on the bottom surface of the lower disc member 14, the disc members being secured together rigidly by a plurality of longitudinally extending fastening rods 20 which extend through and are secured in the disc elements 18, 13, 15, 14 and 1? to provide a unitary rigid resultant structure.

The top cover disc 18 is formed with an upwardly and inwardly curved tapered pointed element 21 and the bottom disc member 19 is likewise formed with a downwardly and inwardly curved pointer element 22 which are in longitudinal alignment with each other. A length of wire 23, which is used in a manner presently to be described, has its end portions engaged in openings 24 and 25 formed respectively in the corner bends adjacent to the pointer elements 21 and 22, whereby the end portions of the wire resiliently engage in said openings, frictionally holding the Wire in the position illustrated in FIGURE 1, but allowing said wire 23 to be readily removed, when required to be used.

The rigidly connected, spaced disc elements 13, 15 and 14 are formed with aligned drill-supporting openings 27, the openings being arranged on the respective discs in three concentric circles and being graduated in size to receive the correspondingly differently sized drills, for example, being progressively graduated in size to receive a particular group of numbered drills. illustrated in FIGURE 4, the three concentrically arranged groups of openings comprise an inner group dimensioned to receive drills numbered from 6 1 to (American Wire Gauge) A.W.G. The intermediate group of openings may be dimensioned to receive drills numbered from 1 to 20 in the American Wire Gauge series, and the other circularly arranged group of openings may be dimensioned to receive drills numbered 21 to 60 in the aforesaid American Wire Gauge series. The circurlarly arranged concentric groups of holes are preferably arranged so that they are angularly staggered, although the angular spacings between the openings in a particular circular series may be uniform.

The radial distances of the otuside of the holes in the outer circular groups of openings are the same. The radial distances of the inside of the holes in the intermediate circular groups are the same. The radial distances of the centers of the innermost circular groups are the same.

Respective top and bottom cover discs 28 and 29are journaled on the opposite end portions of the shaft member 17, the cover disc 28 being rotatably engaged by a flanged nut 30 threaded on the top end of the shaft member 17, as viewed in FIGURE 1, and tightly clamped against the top disc element 18, the lower cover disc 29 being rotatably engaged on a flanged nut 31 threaded on the lower end portion of the shaft member 17 and tightly engaged against the lower disc element 19, as illustrated in FIGURE 1. Thus, the respective cover discs 28 and 29 are retained adjacent to the top and bottom ends of the generally cylindrical main container body by the flanges of the nut members 31) and 31, although the cover discs are freely rotatable on said nu members.

The top cover disc 28 is formed with an aperture 32 at the same radius from the axis of shaft member 17 as the outer circular group of openings 27 in the disc members and of a diameter slightly greater than the largest diameter in the outer circular series, namely, the diameter corresponding to the No. 21 drill. The top surface of the cover disc 28 is likewise provided with an index scale 33 corresponding to the drill members 21 to 60 associated with the outer circular group of drill supporting openings 27. The scale 33 is arranged so that when the disc 28 is rotated to place a scale mark thereof corresponding to a given drill number adjacent the pointer 21, the opening 32 will be aligned with the corresponding drill in the container, and the drill may be removed by inverting the container and allowing same to gravitate outwardly through the opening 32.

The bottom disc 29 is formed with a knock-out aperture 34 which may be utilized, in conjunction with the push rod wire 23 to dislodge a drill which becomes jammed or which otherwise fails to slide out through the discharge opening 32. When using the push rod wire 23, the bottom disc 29 is rotated until the knock-out opening 34 is aligned with the drill to be dispensed, after which the wire is inserted through the opening 34 and pushed against the end of the drill to urge same toward the aperture 32.

For example, 'as' The bottom cover disc 29 is likewise provided with a pair of dispensing openings 36 and 37 at the same radial distances respectively as the intermediate circular series of drill supporting openings and the inner circular series of drill supporting openings in the support discs 13, 15 and 14. The opening 36 is slightly larger in diameter than the largest drill in the numbered group 1 to 2i), namely, larger in diameter than the No. 1 drill. Similarly, the aperture 37 has a diameter slightly larger than the largest drill in the numbered group from 61 to 80, namely, larger than the diameter of the No. 61 drill. The bottom cover disc 29 is provided with a pair of concentric circular scales 38 and 39, numbered in accordance with the intermediate and inner circular groups of drill supporting openings and arranged so that the apertures 36 or 37 maye be positioned opposite a desired drill by rotating the disc 29 to bring the number correspending to the desired drill immediately adjacent to the pointer element 22. V

The top cover disc 28 is provided with a knock-out opening 40 substantially at the same radial distance as the intermediate circularly arranged series of drill-supporting openings, being registrable therewith so as to allow the push rod element 23 to be used to force drills of the intermediate circular group outwardly through the dispensing opening 36 when the desired drill of said innermost circular group becomes jammed or otherwise fails to gravitate freely through the opening 36 when the opening is aligned with the desired drill.

The disc elements 18 and 19 are suitably apertured to allow the insertion of the push rod element 23 to disengage a drill which has become stuck or which fails to gravitate from the drill holder.

The inside surfaces of the cover discs 28 and 29' are formed with circularly arranged series of evenly spaced detent recesses 41 which are engageable by opposed spring biased detent elements 42 and 43 mounted in the opposite end portions of the main body of the drill holder, said detent members 42 and 43 comprising shank portions 44 and 45 which are provided with biasing springs 46 and 47 surrounding same and bearing between the head portions of the detent elements and the opposite ends of a fixed abutment rod 48 secured in the supporting discs 18, as is clearly shown in FIGURE 1. The top and bottom ends of the rod 48 terminate within the upper and lower disc members 15, as shown in FIGURE 1, so as to provide seats for the inner ends of the associated springs 46 and 45, and so as to insure proper bearings for the inner ends of the springs. The spring biased detent elements 42 and 43 cooperate with the locking recesses 41 in the disc members to yieldably hold said disc members in adjusted positions. The detent recesses 41 are so arranged that in certain of said adjusted positions the discharge apertures 32, 36 and 37 will be in dispensing position, whereas in successive rotated positions of the disc members the discharge apertures will be out of registry with the drills so that the drills will not fall out of the container.

The detent recesses are angularly staggered to match the angularly staggered positions of the drills for which they serve. There are twice as many detent recesses as there are drills in each group they serve to locate, namely, for a total of 40 drills there are 80 detent recesses, 40 recesses to locate the respective drills for dispensing same and 40 additional recesses for preventing discharge of the drills.

In using the device, when it is desired to extract a drill, the cover disc 28'or 29 containing the discharge aperture for the group containing the desired drill is rotated to bring the corresponding scale member opposite the pointer element 21 or 22. This aligns the discharge aperture of the cover disc with the selected drill, whereby the drill may be removed from the holder by allowing same to drop through the aperture. If the drill becomes stuck or jammed, the push rod element 23 may be employed in conjunction with the corresponding knock-out those skilled in the art.

hole to dislodge the jammed drill. No push rod aperture is provided for the innermost group of drills, namely, the group numbered 61 to 80, since there is sufiicient space in the areas apertured for these drills to make the apertures sufiiciently large so that the drills would never become stuck or jammed. If the drills of this group become stuck or jammed in any way, a pair of tweezers may be inserted through the relatively large dispensing opening 36 to engage the drill and loosen it.

FIGURES 6- and 7 illustrate a modified form of yieldable detent means to yieldably lock the cover discs against rotation with respect to the main body, which may be employed in the present invention. Thus, the cover element 18 may be provided with a laterally extending generally rectangular supporting loop 60 in which a detent member 61 is slidably mounted, the member being horizontally arranged and having a shank portion 62 which is surrounded by a biasing spring 63 bearing between the head portion of the detent element and the end wall of the loop 60, biasing the head portion of the detent element inwardly. The periphery of the cover disc 28 is formed with evenly spaced vertical notches 64 in which the head portion of the detent member 61 is lockingly engageable. The detent notches 64 may be spaced in the same manner as the detent recesses 41 in the previously described form of the invention. The same yieldable detent means may be provided for the bottom cover disc 29.

While certain specific embodiments of an improved dispensing drill holder have been disclosed in the foregoing description, it will be understood that various modifications within the spirit of the invention may occur to Therefore, it is intended that no limitations be placed on the invention except as defined by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A drill holder comprising a generally cylindrical main body formed with at least two concentric circular series of gaduated drill retaining bores at different radial distances from the axis of said main body and dimensioned to receive a series of drills of different diameters and located to support the drills in positions parallel to the axis of the main body, and respective cover discs iournaled to the opposite ends of said main body, each cover disc being formed with a dispensing opening located at the same radial distance from the axis of said main body as and registrable with the drill retaining bores of a respective circular series, the dispensing opening of the cover disc at one end of said main body being at a different radial distance from said axis than the dispensing opening of the cover disc at the other end of said main body, whereby different sizes of drills may be selectively dispensed from the opposite ends of the drill holder by registering the openings of the discs with the selected drills.

2. A drill holder comprising a generally cylindrical main body formed with at least two concentric circular series of graduated drill retaining bores at different radial distances from the axis of said main body and dimensioned to receive a series of drills of different diameters and located to support the drills in positions parallel to the axis of the main body, and respective cover discs journaled to the opposite ends of said main body, each cover disc being formed with a dispensing opening located at the same radial distance as and registrable with the drill retaining bores of a respective circular series, the dispensing opening of the cover disc at one end of said main body being at a diiferent radial distance from said axis than the dispensing opening of the cover disc at the other end of said main body, whereby ditierent sizes of drills may be selectively dispensed from the opposite ends of the drill holder by registering the openings of the discs with the selected drills, at least one of the discs being formed with a relatively small aperture located at the same radial distance from the axis of said main body as the dispensing opening of the other disc, for insertion of a push rod element.

3. A drill holder comprising a generally cylindrical main body formed with at least two concentric circular series of graduated drill retaining bores at dilferent radial distances from the axis of said main body and dimensioned to receive a series of drills of different diameters and located to support the drills in positions parallel to the axis of the main body, and respective cover discs journaled to the opposite ends of said main body, each cover disc being formed with a dispensing opening located at the same radial distance from the axis of said main body as and registrable with the drill retaining bores of a respective circular series, the dispensing opening of the cover disc at one end of said main body being at a different radial distance from said axis than the dispensing opening of the cover disc at the other end of said main body, whereby difierent sizes of drills may be selectively dispensed from the opposite ends of the drill holder by registering the openings of the discs with the selected drills, and yieldable detent means on the main body engaging the discs to yieldably lock the discs against rotation relative to the main body.

4. A drill holder comprising a generally cylindrical main body provided with a plurality of internal spaced supporting discs rigidly secured therein coaxially therewith, said discs being formed with aligned supporting openings to receive drills, said openings being arranged in at least two concentric circular groups of different radius, and respective cover discs journaled to the opposite ends of said main body, each cover disc being formed with a respective dispensing opening, the dispensing opening of one cover disc being at the same radial distance from the axis of said main body as the supporting openings of one circular group and the dispensing opening of the other cover disc being at the same radial distance from the axis of said main body as the supporting openings of the other circular group, the dispensing opening of the cover disc at one end of said main body being at a different radial distance from said axis than the dispensing opening of the cover disc at the other end of said main body, whereby different sizes of drills may be selectively dispensed from the opposite ends of the holder by registering the dispensing openings with the respective aligned drill supporting openings.

5. A drill holder comprising a generally cylindrical main body provided with a plurality of internal spaced supporting discs rigidly secured therein coaxially therewith, said discs being formed with aligned supporting openings dimensioned to receive specific sizes of drills, said openings being arranged in at least two concentric circular groups of different radius, respective cover discs journaled to the opposite ends of said main body, each cover disc being formed with a respective dispensing opening, the dispensing opening of one cover disc being at the same radial distance from the axis of said main body as the supporting openings of one circular group and the dispensing opening of the other cover disc being at the same radial distance from the axis of said main body as the supporting openings of the other circular group, the dispensing opening of the cover disc at one end of said main body being at a difierent radial distance from said axis than the dispensing opening of the cover disc at the other end of said main body, whereby different sizes of drills may be selectively dispensed from the opposite ends of the holder by registering the dispensing openings with the respective aligned drill supporting openings, at least one of the cover discs being formed with a relatively small opening at the same radial distance from the axis of said main body as the dispensing opening of the other cover disc for inserting a push rod element, and yieldable detent means on the main body engaging the cover discs to yieldably lock the cover discs against rotation with respect to said main body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 157,154 Horton Feb. 7, 1950 2,508,820 Fraley May 23, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 603,021 Great Britain June 8, 1948 637,509 Great Britain May 24, 1950 

